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Key features of the Network Audio System include:

• Device-independent audio over the network
• Lots of audio file and data formats
• Can store sounds in server for rapid replay
• Extensive mixing, separating, and manipulation of audio data
• Simultaneous use of audio devices by multiple applications
• Use by a growing number of ISVs
• Small size
• Free! No obnoxious licensing terms

• Festival - The Festival Speech Synthesis System.
• mpg123 - a command line MP3 player
• GAIM - a free AOL IM client
• OpenOffice (StarOffice) - the (now opensourced) StarOffice Suite has built-in NAS support for the Solaris and Linux Platforms.
• The Qt Library - from Trolltech supports NAS natively. You will need to pass the '-system-nas-sound' to './configure' before building.
• libSDL - SDL, the Simple DirectMedia Layer library, now has native NAS support thanks to Erik Inge Bols\x{00F8}
• XAnim - the X Animation viewer
• XBoing - a blockout type X game
• XPilot - a multiplayer client/server space warfare game
• Xemacs - the best cross-plaform, cross-language IDE
• Alsaplayer - A NAS Output plugin written by Erik Inge Bols\x{00F8} is now supplied with the Alsaplayer distribution.
• X MultiMedia System (XMMS). A NAS Output plugin written by Willem Monsuwe is available at ftp://ftp.stack.nl/pub/users/willem/
• Wine. A NAS plugin written by Nicolas Escuder is now available with the WINE distrubution.

What about xanim, CrossOver for viewers?

How about Quicktime 4 Linux/Cinelerra, OpenQuicktime, FFMPEG?

Of course you can stream Quicktime (yes virginia, even MPEG4) from Linux as well, using the open-source Darwin Streaming Server.

Is that enough? What more do you want?

No; according to the xanim home page, Sorenson has an exclusive agreement with Apple. The details of the codec cannot be released to anyone, even under NDA, unless both Apple and Sorenson renegotiate this agreement. Whenever people ask them about this, they take the easy way out, and blame each other.

No; according to the xanim home page, Sorenson has an exclusive agreement with Apple. The details of the codec cannot be released to anyone, even under NDA, unless both Apple and Sorenson renegotiate this agreement. Whenever people ask them about this, they take the easy way out, and blame each other.

When I read the title, I thought the good news could be related to the Sorensen codec.
Gotta pay more attention next time, as it explicitly says OPEN-CODEC (well, we can always dream on the day Apple will set it free :)

"Sorenson Video
The Sorenson video codec is so far exclusive to Apple's Quicktime through an agreement with Apple. XAnim supports quicktime files that have video and audio tracks and could easily support the Sorenson video codec, but Sorenson would have to want to and Apple would have to ok it. Highly unlikely. Apple's new OS X based on unix and so it'd be interesting to see if they eventually port Quicktime to linux.

You can contact Sorenson by sending email to: support@sorenson.com and their web page is http://www.sorenson.com/"

It really is Apple's fault, to some degree-- the Sorenson codec (probably the most popular quicktime video codec) is patented, and any open-source implementation of it would be illegal.

Not to mention that even a closed-source implementation is currently not possible, since Sorenson is only licensing their codec to Apple through an exclusive deal. So unless Apple or Sorenson write a Linux version, there won't be one.

Here's a link that mentions it in regards to xanim, and another on ZDNet that states "Apple has never released a binary player for Linux or a binary module for the XAnim video and animation player, and it has no stated plans to do so. Moreover, the company won't allow open source programmers to make their own Sorenson-aware players."

So before you bash the hardworking folks who make linux do as much as it does, make sure you have your facts straight.

...Sorenson doesn't have to release source, they just have to give the xanim coder permission to write a closed source implementation, but they're refusing to even do that.

(See this page.)

• avifile
• MPlayer
• XAnim

Note that the avifile project has links to many other players...

XAnim is (AFAIK) the oldest player. It supports some AVIs but (IIRC) not ASFs...

Most of the ASF et. al. support comes from using the Windows binary codecs...

Before you lay blame, please educate yourself about the problem. Xanim would *happily* include Sorenson CODECs if Sorenson wasn't so tight with Apple. But, the ways of intellectual property are indeed mysterious....

http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/xa_unsupported.html

I am a little put out by the fact that I had to use somebody else's computer to see the movie. I complain to the Sorenson people annually, and I think everybody who does not use Macintosh or Windows should do so as well. The instructions for complaining are on the xanim page.

Go to the unsupported xanim codecs page and read why you can not play sorenson video in linux. And send a polite mail to Sorenson asking them why they do not support anything else than mac and win.

Maybe a gazilion polite e-mails from the /. ppl which will make their e-mail server crash'n'burn will be a good proof that un*x has a large enough market for their technology.

--

Mr Poldipec's wonderful Xanim supports a wide variety of Codecs already, see: http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/linuxELFx86 g21.html

(or your appropriate platform, not everyone is stuck with these fscking x86 machines).

Instead of complaining, do as Mr Poldipec suggests, send an email to the more uncooperative companies telling them how it is in their interests to support the rapidly emerging/growing linux platform.

Mr Poldipec's wonderful Xanim supports a wide variety of Codecs already, see: http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/linuxELFx86 g21.html

(or your appropriate platform, not everyone is stuck with these fscking x86 machines).

Instead of complaining, do as Mr Poldipec suggests, send an email to the more uncooperative companies telling them how it is in their interests to support the rapidly emerging/growing linux platform.

hoping the Linux port of Quicktime ever gets completed

What is wrong with xanim ?? It plays quicktime movies, and uses ALL available codecs. Apple is preventing usage of the most common Sorensen codec under linux, and also failing to port their player to linux. In short, they are trying to dominate online movies while ACTIVELY blocking any use of their movie format under linux. Several other codecs provide Mark Podlipec with NDAs, and he links their codecs in as binary libraries - thus not revealing their source.

From the xanim home page
I have contacted Sorenson about licensing their codec. They responded that Apple won't allow them to license it to others. You may want to nicely send a single email message to Sorenson and Apple asking about unix and/or xanim support for the Sorenson video codec.

Sorensen email: support@s-vision.com
Apple: wish@hype.quicktime.apple.com

Don't think so. From the xanim homepage:
I have contacted Sorenson about licensing their codec. They responded that Apple won't allow them to license it to others.
It's currently fashionable to think of Apple as the anti-Microsoft, and thus the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unfortunately, I see little evidence that that's the case.

You would sell out your BSD, HURD, etc. brothers for this convenience? You would even sell out fellow Linux users, who run on PPC or Alpha?

I am a practical person, and I realize their may be Business Reasons(TM) why a full source release is not possible or feasible. Thus, yes, I am willing to accept a binary-only release of the Sorenson CODEC if that is the only way possible to get it done. At the same time, I will continue to push for open audio/video encoding formats, so that you don't need a binary-only CODEC to get things done.

More importantly, if you check the xanim website, you will find that:

(1) The author provides DLLs for FreeBSD 3.1 already.

(2) The author will happily provide DLLs for any other platform, if you give him the tools to do so (either a cross-compiler or a machine with software).

Don't attack me about "selling out" the other platforms without knowing the situation.

More to the point, why aren't YOU working on a QuickTime Player for Linux/PPC?

Maybe I should rephrase - There are QT players (namely xanim) for Linux/PPC, but there are elements af the format that are proprietary. There is not, nor will there ever be, a QT player for Linux/PPC that plays the QT movies commonly found on the internet until Apple allows Sorenson to license the Sorenson Video codec.

-AC

True, people are still waiting for a Linux QT client

xanim supports quicktime.

Go here:
xanim and read what the author says.. He _wanted_ to do a codec and would sign the NDA, sorensen said Apple will not allow them to license it to third parties.

So...
Who has who by the nuts?

You're on the right track, but the problem is that Apple themselves seem to be impeding any sort of progress on the Sorenson codec for xanim. From the xanim homepage:
I have contacted Sorenson about licensing their codec. They responded that Apple won't allow them to license it to others.
It's known that Mark Podlipec (the xanim guy) is pretty competent and doesn't even require codecs to be released as open source; yet Apple still won't let him write one. I personally could care less about "genuine" quicktime for Linux, but I just want to be able to watch all of the trailers.

Get & install the Radius Cinepak Codec, and you can play QuickTime movies.

While many of the codecs supported by xanim are not free (in both senses... still don't understand that analogy), I'm sure there are some in there. It's a good list of codecs to start from if you want to check all of them. I was unable to find a page with a list of free/non-free video codecs in the 10 minutes I spent on it.

Does anyone know what codecs could possibly be used for this?
---

There's xanim, but it doesn't support the codecs used by this movie.

I emailed Apple and Sorenson about working with Mark Podlipec (Xanim's creator) and below is the email I got back.

If we all email them maybe they will get a clue.
For reference, Xanim's home page (and mirrors)
http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/home.html
http://smurfland.cit.buffalo.edu/xanim/home.html
http://xanim.resnet.gatech.edu/home.html


Hello,

You're receiving this note because you asked for QuickTime for Linux, QuickTime for UNIX, or QuickTime for Amiga.

QuickTime is available for Mac OS http://www.apple.com/macos, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4. The next platform to be supported will be Mac OS X http://www.apple.com/macosx (including Mac OS X Server), which is Mach/BSD-based.

If you're interested in QuickTime for platforms other than Mac or Windows, contact your platform vendor and let them know that you would like them to license QuickTime from Apple.

If you're interested in QuickTime as it relates to servers, be sure to check out the standards-based Darwin streaming server project http://publicsource.apple.com (which works with any standards-based streaming media client).

Thank you,

--
Charles Wiltgen
QuickTime Technology Manager
Worldwide Developer Relations Apple Computer, Inc. "Don't compromise. Use QuickTime."
http://www.apple.com/quicktime
http://www.QuickTimeFAQ.org

QuickTime 4: The first standards-based architecture for networked media.
Recognized as the industry standard for Macintosh and Windows since 1991.

The codec does not belong to Apple. The license it from Sorenson. If you want to, you can call up Sorenson and license it too. Go for it. As to "buy it out and pretend it's free", that's Microsoft's strategy. Apple didn't buy Quicktime, it invented it. Apple did buy NeXT, but there was no streaming server in NeXT.

Unfortunately Sorenson will not allow their codec to be licensed or ported for an OS in which Apple has not made available a QuickTime client. This includes Linux.

I found this hard to believe but Norman Doyle normd@s-vision.com, director of software development at Sorenson confirmed it on the public QuickTime-Talk list (QuickTime-Talk Digest V1 #138, June 15 1999), http://www.lists.apple.com/quicktime -talk.html.

Quoting Norman:

Apple and Sorenson Vision currently have a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back" relationship. It's beneficial for both companies but also to many of you. We are very supportive of QuickTime and will only port our codec to those systems that are supported by QuickTime

For more background on this see Mark Podlipec's comments on his attempts to get the sorenson codec ported to Xamim http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/

Apple seems completely uniterested in allowing QuickTime to be ported to Linux or other free nixes. Charles Wiltgen the QuickTime Technology Manager cwiltgen@apple.com is seemingly completely unconvinced of any benefit to Apple of allowing a QuickTime client on Linux. His standard response to the question about a Linux client on the quicktime-talk list is quoted below:

Linux is a fine topic for this list if it involves serving
QuickTime movies. Otherwise, it's not.

If QuickTime on other platforms is critical to you, let your
platform vendor know that you need them to license QuickTime --
refer them to me, and I'll hook them up with the the Apple people
they'll need to talk to.

If you have more thoughts on the subject, please take it to a
different forum, or email me privately.

See: QuickTime-Talk Digest V1 #133, June 12 1999

If you've got a well reasoned response about why it is in Apple's interest to make or allow a QuickTime client for Linux please write to Charles. I'd base it on Linux desktops eating away MS share instead of Apple's.

http://xanim.va.pubnix.com is more up to date.

XAnim 2.80.0 apparently has support for dynamically loadable codecs. There are also several codecs for it that are available only in binary form, and you link them in when you build it. These codecs are available for Linux x86 (a.out and elf) and many other UNIXes as well.

According to the xanim home page at http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/home.html, the author has signed NDAs with Intel for V4 and V5, and it appears that support for these codecs is coming. Personally, I'd love to see support for these. In playing around with my Matrox Marvel under Windoze, I've found that the Index 4 codec produces excellent quality and small size. It would be nice to see a Sorensen codec for linux too.

--JT

I've seen this a couple of times from you, Rob. You probably need to recompile xanim with the extra (non-free but zero-dollar) codecs:

• Radius Cinepak
• Intel Indeo 3.x
• Creative Technology's CYUV

I've seen this a couple of times from you, Rob. You probably need to recompile xanim with the extra (non-free but zero-dollar) codecs:

• Radius Cinepak
• Intel Indeo 3.x
• Creative Technology's CYUV

I've seen this a couple of times from you, Rob. You probably need to recompile xanim with the extra (non-free but zero-dollar) codecs:

• Radius Cinepak
• Intel Indeo 3.x
• Creative Technology's CYUV

I've seen this a couple of times from you, Rob. You probably need to recompile xanim with the extra (non-free but zero-dollar) codecs:

• Radius Cinepak
• Intel Indeo 3.x
• Creative Technology's CYUV